Prudential, the UK insurer which has confirmed it is considering moving its
headquarters to Hong Kong, has paid just £234m in UK tax over the past five
years.

The scale of Prudential's payments to the Exchequer surfaced as analysts suggested the insurer's threat to redomicile was an effort to persuade regulators to soften or delay Solvency II regulations ahead of their scheduled introduction in 2014.

In a statement Prudential said it "regularly reviews its range of options to maximise the strategic flexibility of the group", including "consideration of optimising the group's domicile". Prudential said its review was in part driven by Solvency II and that there remained "uncertainty" regarding implementation of the new rules and the implication for the insurer.

Analysis of Prudential's annual reports showed the insurer paid £1.93bn in tax in the UK from 2006 to 2010 but also received a tax credit of £1.7bn.

The insurer paid £1.26bn in tax overseas and received a credit of £22m. It remains unclear whether the figures include payroll taxes.